Everything about E11EVEN Vodka screams “Made in Miami,” from its distinctive aqua label to the fact that it was born and taste-tested in the Magic City’s E11EVEN nightclub. Nikki Simkins, who licensed the intellectual property of the iconic E11EVEN brand to create E11EVEN Vodka, serves as CEO of the spirits company and is a passionate evangelist for vodka in general (you're less likely to get a hangover from vodka, she emphasizes). Naturally, she is proud of the purity and quality of E11EVEN in particular: it’s distilled six times, made with non-GMO corn, and produced through a seven-step filtration process.
Once you have added E11EVEN to your home bar, these recipes will show you how this vodka in the frosted bottle enlivens any cocktails.
Vodka Smash
In the depths of winter, nothing makes you look forward to summer — or a weekend jaunt to Miami Beach — than the word “muddled.” The Vodka Smash is like a naughty breakfast: a crushed berry bowl perfect for sweet sipping.
Ingredients
2 oz. E11EVEN Vodka
2 Raspberries
1 Medium strawberry, stem removed
1 teaspoon Blackberry jam or preserves (strawberry/raspberry jam can be substituted)
½ sprig Fresh rosemary
½ oz. Lemon juice
¼ cup Honey
¼ cup Hot water
Optional: Extra lemon wedges and rosemary sprigs as garnish
Grab the berries, jam and rosemary and muddle them until the fruit achieves a pulpy consistency. Add vodka, lemon, honey syrup and a cup of ice. Shake with a cup of ice and pour all contents into a double old fashioned glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge and rosemary spring if desired. For the honey syrup, heat ¼ cup of water in the microwave for 45-seconds. Stir in ¼ cup of honey until it's fully dissolved and the resulting liquid is golden brown.
Vodka Sidecar
A cool, bracing staple of merry mid-century sophistication, the sidecar represents the perfect blend of tart and sweet.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 ½ oz. E11EVEN Vodka
1 oz. Orange liqueur
1 oz. Greshly squeezed lemon juice
Garnish: Lemon peel
Place the sugar evenly on a small plate and carefully dip the edge of a coupe glass in the sugar. Add the vodka, orange liqueur and lemon juice to a shaker of ice and shake for 10 to 20 seconds, or until the outside of the shaker turns frosty-cold. Strain into the coupe glass and garnish with a lemon peel.
Cosmopolitan
From Minneapolis to New York to Provincetown, every city, it seems, wants to take credit for the festive cocktail that was re-popularized through Sex and the City. Given the E11EVEN Vodka connection, we prefer the South Beach origin story: bartender Cheryl Cook of The Strand Restaurant is said to have created this easy-to-mix cocktail in the mid-1980s.
Ingredients
1 ½ oz. E11EVEN vodka
¾ oz. Cointreau
¾ oz. Lime juice, freshly squeezed
½ oz. Cranberry juice cocktail
Garnish: Lime wedge
Pour the vodka, Cointreau, lime juice and cranberry juice cocktail into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lime wedge.
Lemon Drop
Simple to make, this San Francisco classic has been around since the 1970s; for fruity variations, you can add muddled berries to suit your preference.
Ingredients
2 oz. E11EVEN vodka
½ oz. Triple sec
1 oz. Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 oz. Simple syrup
Garnish: Sugar rim
Coat the rim of a cocktail glass with sugar and set aside (do this a few minutes ahead so the sugar can dry and adhere well to the glass). Add the vodka, triple sec, lemon juice and simple syrup to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into the prepared glass.
In Closing
As you develop a sense of the versatility E11EVEN can offer you within any vodka cocktail, you’ll find that these recipes are just a wonderful place to start. Enjoy developing your mixology muster at home with E11EVEN.
